Auxiliary Apparatus with Moveable Seat

ABSTRACT

An auxiliary apparatus with a movable seat includes at least one upper tube, a seat, at least one combining plate for combining the seat and the upper tube, and two positioning devices installed in first and second ends of the upper tube respectively. The seat is adapted for the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking to sit on and is movable between the first and second ends of the upper tube. The combining plate includes two positioning grooves. The two positioning devices can be releasably engaged with the two positioning grooves of the combining plate to fix the seat on the first end or the second end of the upper tube. The two positioning devices are structurally simple and allow a position of the seat to be changed more conveniently.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an auxiliary apparatus with a movable seat and, more particularly, to an auxiliary apparatus for the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking to sit on, in order to conduct daily life activities such as showers or rehabilitations, etc.

2. Description of the Related Art

For the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking, their ability to live independently is substantially limited. They have to depend on caregivers and auxiliary apparatuses to conduct daily life activities such as getting out of bed, dining, rehabilitation, or taking a shower, etc. For example while taking a shower, the caregivers have to assist the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking to move to bathrooms, and have them seated on auxiliary chairs to take showers. The seat of a conventional auxiliary chair is usually fixed on the supporting legs, it is rather a laborious, time-consuming and difficult task for caregivers to assist the disabled to change positions of the body during a shower; while it is dangerous for the disabled. Even though some auxiliary chairs are designed with movable seats, it is still inconvenient to change the positions of the seats.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary apparatus with a movable seat to improve the aforementioned problems. The auxiliary apparatus can assist the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking to conduct daily life activities, and positions of the seat of the auxiliary apparatus can be easily and conveniently changed.

To achieve this and other objectives, an auxiliary apparatus of the present invention includes a supporting frame, a seat, a combining plate, and first and second positioning devices. The supporting frame includes spaced first and second upper tubes. The first upper tube extends in an axial direction and includes first and second ends spaced in the axial direction. A positioning hole is formed in each of the first and second ends of the first upper tube. The seat includes a lower surface supported on the first and second upper tubes of the supporting frame. The seat is movable between the first and second ends of the first upper tube. The combining plate is connected the first upper tube with the lower surface of the seat and includes two fixing grooves spaced in the axial direction. The first and second positioning devices are mounted in the first and second ends of the first upper tube respectively. Each of the first and second positioning devices includes a positioning member and an elastic piece. Each positioning member has a stopping portion. The stopping portion of the positioning member of the first positioning device is engaged with the positioning hole of the first end of the first upper tube, and the stopping portion of the positioning member of the second positioning device is engaged with the positioning hole of the second end of the first upper tube. Each elastic piece includes a first section pressed against the first upper tube and a second section coupled with one of the positioning members. When the seat is moved to the first end or the second end of the first upper tube, one of the two fixing grooves of the combining plate can be aligned with the positioning hole in the first end or the second end of the upper tube and engaged with the stopping portion of the positioning member of the first or second positioning device so that the seat is fixed. When the positioning member of the first or second positioning device is pressed, the stopping portion of the positioning member can be detached from an associated fixing groove, so that a position of the seat can be changed.

In a preferred form, an installation hole is formed in each of the first and second ends of a bottom of the first upper tube. Each of the positioning members includes an operation portion. The operation portion of the positioning member of the first positioning device is engaged with the installation hole of the first end of the first upper tube, and the operation portion of the positioning member of the second positioning device is engaged with the installation hole of the second end of the first upper tube. Each stopping portion includes a slant lower surface.

Preferably, each of the operation portions of the positioning members of the first and second positioning devices is coupled with a button protruded out of the first upper tube for pressing. The combining plate includes an arcuate recessed portion extending in the axial direction and is connected to the lower surface of the seat with the recessed portion covering the bottom of a portion of the first upper tube.

Preferably, the elastic piece is a Z-shaped strip and further includes a middle portion between the first and second sections.

The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in connection with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The illustrative embodiments may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an auxiliary apparatus of the present invention with an illustration of a seat being movable between two positions.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the auxiliary apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the auxiliary apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partly cross-section front view of the auxiliary apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of a left circled portion of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of a right circled portion of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 6 with a button being pressed.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the auxiliary apparatus of FIG. 1 with an illustration of a back rest being folded pivotally relative to the seat of the auxiliary apparatus.

FIG. 9 shows an enlarged view of a middle circled portion of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is cross sectional view of a positioning device of another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An auxiliary apparatus with a movable seat according to the preferred teachings of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 9 of the drawings and generally designated 10. The auxiliary apparatus 10 is suitable for the handicapped with disabled lower limbs or those with difficulty in walking to use in bathrooms or other locations in the house, in order to be assisted to conduct daily life activities such as taking showers, rehabilitation, dining, etc. The auxiliary apparatus 10 includes a supporting frame 12, a seat 14, and first and second positioning devices 16 and 17. The supporting frame 12 includes two spaced side supports 18, and two spaced upper tubes 20 and 21 connected between the side supports 18. The upper tubes 20 and 21 are parallel to each other and extend in an axial direction. Each of the two upper tubes 20 and 21 includes first and second ends 22 and 24 spaced in the axial direction. Each of the two side supports 18 has two sleeve tubes 26, and a height of each sleeve tube 26 can be adjusted. The first and second ends 22 and 24 of each of the two upper tubes 20 and 21 are inserted inside the sleeve tubes 26 of one of the side supports 18 respectively. A spring sheet 28 is mounted in the first and second ends 22 and 24 of each of the upper tubes 20 and 21, and a coupling member 30 is disposed on an end of each spring sheet 28 and penetrated outside one of the upper tubes to insert into a through-hole 32 of one of the sleeve tubes 26 to combine the upper tubes and the sleeve tubes 26. When coupling members 30 are pressed inwardly (see FIG. 5), the coupling members 30 can be detached from the through-holes 32 of the sleeve tubes 26, so that the upper tubes can be detached from the sleeve tubes 26. Furthermore, an installation hole 34 and a positioning hole 36 are formed in each of the first and second ends 22 and 24 of a bottom of one of the upper tubes (the upper tube 20 as shown in the drawings). Each of the positioning holes 36 is disposed nearer to a central portion 37 of the upper tube 20 than the adjacent installation hole 34 in the same end.

The seat 14 includes a lower surface 38 and an upper surface 40, and the lower surface 38 of the seat 14 is supported on the upper tubes 20 and 21 of the supporting frame 12. The auxiliary apparatus 10 further includes two combining plates 42 each having an arcuate recessed portion 44 extending in a middle portion thereof in the axial direction. The combining plates 42 are connected to the lower surface 38 of the seat 14 by connecting members such as screws 46 with the recessed portion 44 of each combining plate 42 covers the bottom of an associated upper tube, so that the upper tubes 20 and 21 are sandwiched between the combining plates 42 and the seat 14.

Accordingly, the seat 14 can be moved between the first and second ends 22 and 24 of the upper tubes 20 and 21. Further, the combining plate 42 mounted on the upper tube 20 includes two fixing grooves 48 and 49. When the seat 14 is moved between the first and second ends 22 and 24 of the upper tube 20, one of the two fixing grooves 48 and 49 can be aligned with the positioning hole 36 in the first end 22 or the second end 24 of the upper tube 20. A back rest 50 is pivotally connected to a back side of the upper surface 40 of the seat 14, the back rest 50 can be folded pivotally toward the seat 14 (FIG. 8), so that a storage space for the auxiliary apparatus 10 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the first and second positioning devices 16 and 17 are mounted in the first and second ends 22 and 24 of the upper tube 20 respectively. Each of the positioning devices 16 and 17 includes a positioning member 52 and an elastic piece 54 (FIG. 6). Each of the positioning members 52 includes an operation portion 56 and a stopping portion 58 spaced from the operation portion 56 on a bottom portion thereof. The stopping portion 58 has a slant lower surface 59. The operation portion 56 and the stopping portion 58 of the positioning member 52 of the first positioning device 16 are combined respectively with the installation hole 34 and the positioning hole 36 of the first end 22 of the upper tube 20 (FIG. 6); while the operation portion 56 and the stopping portion 58 of the positioning member 52 of the second positioning device 17 are combined respectively with the installation hole 34 and the positioning hole 36 of the second end 24 of the upper tube 20 (FIG. 9). Each of the operation portions 56 is coupled with a button 60 protruded out of the upper tube 20 for pressing. In this embodiment, each elastic piece 54 is structurally bent and includes a first section 62 pressed against an inner wall of the upper tube 20 and a second section 64 coupled with one of the positioning members 52. When the button 60 of each positioning member 52 is pressed (as shown with an arrow 65 in FIG. 7), the positioning member 52 will be moved toward an inner space of the upper tube 20, and the elastic piece 54 will be compressed to deform and to have elasticity. On the other hand, when the button 60 of each positioning member 52 is released, the elasticity of the elastic piece 54 will cause the positioning member 52 to be restored to its original position.

A user can sit on the seat 14 of the auxiliary apparatus 10 and move conveniently. For example, FIGS. 4 and 6 show that the seat 14 is fixed on the first end 22 of the upper tube 20 by the stopping portion 58 of the positioning member 52 of the first positioning device 16; when the caregiver presses the button 60 of the first positioning device 16 (FIG. 7), the stopping portion 58 of the first positioning device 16 will be detached from the positioning hole 36 in the first end 22 of the upper tube 20, so that the seat 14 can be moved from the first end 22 to the second end 24 of the upper tube 20 (as shown with an arrow 66 in FIG. 7). When the seat 14 is moved to the second end 24 of the upper tube and the fixing groove 49 of the combining plate 42 is aligned with the positioning hole 36 in the second end 24 of the upper tube 20, the elasticity of the elastic piece 54 of the second positioning device 17 will cause the stopping portion 58 of the second positioning device 17 to engage with the positioning hole 36 in the second end 24 of the upper tube 20 and the fixing groove 49 of the combining plate 42. Thus, the seat 14 is fixed. On the other hand, when the seat 14 is fixed on the second end 24 of the upper tube, simply press the button 60 of the second positioning device 17 to allow the seat 14 to be moved toward the first end 22 of the upper tube 20, so that the seat 14 can is fixed by the stopping portion 58 of the first positioning device 16.

Now that the basic teachings of the present invention have been explained, many extensions and variations will be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art. The positioning device 16 shown in FIG. 10 is a modification of that shown in FIGS. 1 through 9. In this embodiment, the elastic piece 54 is a Z-shaped strip and includes first and second sections 62 and 64 and a middle portion 68 between first and second sections 62 and 64, so that the elastic piece 54 will not be deflected in a deformed shape when the button 60 is compressed (as shown with an arrow 70).

Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein. 

1. An auxiliary apparatus with a movable seat comprising: a supporting frame including spaced first and second upper tubes, with the first upper tube extending in an axial direction and including first and second ends spaced in the axial direction, with a positioning hole formed in each of the first and second ends of the first upper tube; a seat including a lower surface supported on the first and second upper tubes of the supporting frame, with the seat being movable between the first and second ends of the first upper tube; a combining plate connecting the first upper tube with the lower surface of the seat and including two fixing grooves spaced in the axial direction; and first and second positioning devices mounted in the first and second ends of the first upper tube respectively, with each of the first and second positioning devices including a positioning member and an elastic piece, with each positioning member having a stopping portion, with the stopping portion of the positioning member of the first positioning device engaged with the positioning hole of the first end of the first upper tube, with the stopping portion of the positioning member of the second positioning device engaged with the positioning hole of the second end of the first upper tube, with each elastic piece including a first section pressed against the first upper tube and a second section coupled with one of the positioning members; wherein when the seat is moved to the first end or the second end of the first upper tube, one of the two fixing grooves of the combining plate can be aligned with the positioning hole in the first end or the second end of the first upper tube and engaged with the stopping portion of the positioning member of the first or second positioning device so that the seat is fixed; wherein when the positioning member of the first or second positioning device is pressed, the stopping portion of the positioning member can be detached from an associated fixing groove, so that a position of the seat can be changed.
 2. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 1, with an installation hole formed in each of the first and second ends of a bottom of the first upper tube, with each of the positioning members including an operation portion, with the operation portion of the positioning member of the first positioning device engaged with the installation hole of the first end of the first upper tube, with the operation portion of the positioning member of the second positioning device engaged with the installation hole of the second end of the first upper tube, and with each of the stopping portions including a slant lower surface.
 3. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 2, with each of the operation portions of the positioning members .of the first and the second positioning devices coupled with a button protruded out of the first upper tube for pressing.
 4. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 1, with the elastic piece being a Z-shaped strip and further including a middle portion between the first and second sections thereof.
 5. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 2, with the elastic piece being a Z-shaped strip and further including a middle portion between the first and second sections thereof.
 6. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the combining plate includes an arcuate recessed portion extending in the axial direction and is connected to the lower surface of the seat with the recessed portion covering the bottom of a portion of the first upper tube, with the two fixing grooves formed in the arcuate recessed portion, with the combining plate including first and second flanges extending from opposite sides of the arcuate recessed portion, with the first and second flanges abutting with the lower surface of the seat and connected to the lower surface of the seat with connectors.
 7. The auxiliary apparatus according to claim 2, with the positioning hole in the first end of the first upper tube disposed nearer to a central portion between the first and second ends of the first upper tube than the installation hole in the first end of the first upper tube, with the positioning hole in the second end of the first upper tube disposed nearer to the central portion of the first upper tube than the installation hole in the second end of the first upper tube. 